Word histories can be revealing — consider that the word
"mortgage" comes from the Latin
for "dead pledge." By presenting these etymologies in a clear, accessible form, we can
help users better understand the words they look up on Google.

The simple branching flow chart to traces back the origins of words. There's a saying
that language is "fossilized poetry" and the diagrams make the fossils easy to see.
Some words are surprising, but some are quite logical.

We also added graphs of use over time, showing how a word's popularity has waxed and waned
in books. For instance, "tsunami" has experienced a wave of mentions:

Meanwhile, mustaches came into style, fell back, and now are coming back into style: